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the Mac cat抯 new features</a></center></div> <div class="center"> <div id="header"> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/" id="logo"></a> <div align="right" class="snap_noshots" id="leaderboard"> <script type="text/javascript">GA_googleFillSlot("ResearchWatch_Leaderboard_Top_728x90");</script> </div> </div>  <div id="top_stories"> <ul id="img"> <li id="top_story0"><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/night-rod-special-harley-davidson/19499/" title="Night Rod Special - cream of the 2012 Harley-Davidsons"></a></li> <li id="top_story1"><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/htv-2-second-test-flight/19503/" title="Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2 crashes on second test flight"></a></li> <li id="top_story2"><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/apple-ios-disrupts-nintendo-3ds/19490/" title="The disruptor gets disrupted: how Apple is beating Nintendo at its own game"></a></li> <li id="top_story3"><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/covini-c3a-hybrid/19492/" title="Covini to produce hybrid Speedster version of six-wheeled supercar"></a></li> <li id="top_story4"><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/williamswarn-beer-brewing-machine/19487/" title="'Personal Brewery' produces beer in seven days"></a></li> </ul> <ul id="titles"> <li><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/night-rod-special-harley-davidson/19499/">Night Rod Special - cream of the 2012 Harley-Davidsons</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/htv-2-second-test-flight/19503/">Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2 crashes on second test flight</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/apple-ios-disrupts-nintendo-3ds/19490/">The disruptor gets disrupted: how Apple is beating Nintendo at its own game</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/covini-c3a-hybrid/19492/">Covini to produce hybrid Speedster version of six-wheeled supercar</a></li> <li><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/williamswarn-beer-brewing-machine/19487/">'Personal Brewery' produces beer in seven days</a></li> </ul> <div class="clear_both"></div> <a id="more" class="orange" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/top_stories/">MORE TOP STORIES » </a> <div class="clear_both"></div> </div> <div id="content" class="narrow_content"><h1>Research Watch</h1> <div class="summary_item noback"> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/fluid-flow-cloak-for-ships/19511/">Proposed 'fluid flow cloak' might greatly reduce ships' hydrodynamic drag</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/ben-coxworth/" rel="author">Ben Coxworth</a></p> <p><em>13:32 August 12, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p></p> <p></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/fluid-flow-cloak-for-ships/19511/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/ffc.jpg" title="A scientist has proposed a 'fluid flow cloak,' which might reduce the drag on ships' hulls..." alt="A scientist has proposed a 'fluid flow cloak,' which might reduce the drag on ships' hulls..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>North Carolina’s Duke University has been grabbing some headlines over the past few years, due to research carried out there involving the use of metamaterials for creating functioning <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/go/6357/" target="_blank">invisibility cloaks</a>. Just this month, Duke researchers announced that they had developed another such material that could be used to manipulate the frequency and direction of light at will, for use in <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/dukeuniversitymetamaterialsmanipulatelight/19444/" target="_blank">optical switching</a>. Now, Duke’s Prof. Yaroslav Urzhumov has proposed that metamaterials could also be used to drastically reduce the drag on ships’ hulls, “by tricking the surrounding water into staying still.” <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/fluid-flow-cloak-for-ships/19511/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/spider-silk-for-gene-therapy/19500/">Genetically-engineered spider silk could be used in gene therapy</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/ben-coxworth/" rel="author">Ben Coxworth</a></p> <p><em>15:14 August 11, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p></p> <p></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/spider-silk-for-gene-therapy/19500/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/silkproteins.jpg" title="Scientists are experimenting with using genetically engineered spider silk proteins in the..." alt="Scientists are experimenting with using genetically engineered spider silk proteins in the..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/secrets-of-spider-silk-unraveled/18042/" target="_blank">Spider silk</a> is pretty amazing stuff. Pound for pound, it has a tensile strength close to that of steel while being one-fifth as dense, it’s tougher than Kevlar, and it can stretch to almost one-and-a-half times its length without breaking. As if that wasn’t enough, it now appears that a genetically engineered version of the substance could be used for delivering genes into human cells. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/spider-silk-for-gene-therapy/19500/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/pocket-sized-date-rape-drug-detector/19479/">Researchers develop pocket-sized “date rape” drug detector</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/darren-quick/" rel="author">Darren Quick</a></p> <p><em>19:10 August 9, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/pocket-sized-date-rape-drug-detector/19479/#comments">8 Comments</a> </p> <p></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/pocket-sized-date-rape-drug-detector/19479/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/cocktail.jpg" title="A new sensor that detects the presence of GHB and ketamine could help reduce the incidence..." alt="A new sensor that detects the presence of GHB and ketamine could help reduce the incidence..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>According to the U.S. Department of Justice, around 200,000 women were raped in the U.S. in 2007 with the aid of a “date rape” drug – and because so many cases go unreported, the actual figure is believed to be 80 to 100 percent higher. GHB is one of the most commonly used drugs because it is odorless, tasteless and invisible when dissolved in water. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences have developed an easy-to-use sensor that, when dipped into a cocktail, can instantly detect GHB and another commonly used date rape drug, ketamine. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/pocket-sized-date-rape-drug-detector/19479/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/wearable-cameras-mocap-system/19465/">Motion capture system makes actors the camera instead of putting them in front of it</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/darren-quick/" rel="author">Darren Quick</a></p> <p><em>03:00 August 9, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p></p> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/image_modernist.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/wearable-cameras-mocap-system/19465/picture/139456/">5 Pictures</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/wearable-cameras-mocap-system/19465/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/mocap.jpg" title="The wearable camera system can be used to capture the motion of an actor in just about any..." alt="The wearable camera system can be used to capture the motion of an actor in just about any..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>Computer-generated imagery (CGI) has become such a staple of modern movie-making that most people know what actors are doing when prancing around in front of green screens wearing skin-tight leotards with reflective balls affixed at various locations over their bodies - motion capture. In addition to the actor’s performance, such techniques can also require the tracking of camera movements and props so that perspective is maintained when translating the movements into CGI. Now researchers have demonstrated a system that can perform motion capture almost anywhere and without the need to track a separate camera and it does this by mounting the cameras on the actors instead. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/wearable-cameras-mocap-system/19465/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/surround-haptics/19462/">Disney’s Surround Haptics creates ‘virtual actuators’ to generate high-res tactile feedback </a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/darren-quick/" rel="author">Darren Quick</a></p> <p><em>20:33 August 8, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/surround-haptics/19462/#comments">1 Comment</a> </p> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/image_modernist.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/surround-haptics/19462/picture/139441/">2 Pictures</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/surround-haptics/19462/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/surround-haptics.jpg" title="Surround Haptics enhances video game play by using an array of vibrating actuators in a ch..." alt="Surround Haptics enhances video game play by using an array of vibrating actuators in a ch..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>In the quest for more immersive entertainment experiences, researchers at Disney Research, Pittsburgh (DRP) have developed a new tactile technology called Surround Haptics. Instead of just relying on sound and vision – and in the case of video games, vibrating controllers – the system uses a low-resolution grid of vibrating actuators to generate high-resolution, continuous, moving tactile strokes across a person’s skin. They claim the system is able to create smooth, continuous tactile motion, akin to the feeling of someone dragging a finger across someone’s skin, rather than the discrete tactile pulsations or buzzes commonly used in today’s haptic technology. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/surround-haptics/19462/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/computer-technologies-reveal-identities/19422/">New computer technologies shown to expose personal information</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/ben-coxworth/" rel="author">Ben Coxworth</a></p> <p><em>22:32 August 3, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/computer-technologies-reveal-identities/19422/#comments">2 Comments</a> </p> <p></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/computer-technologies-reveal-identities/19422/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/identitystudy.jpg" title="A combination of facial recognition software, cloud computing and social networking can be..." alt="A combination of facial recognition software, cloud computing and social networking can be..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>Facial recognition software, social networking and cloud computing ... they're all technological advances that alone have thrown up questions regarding privacy. According to a recent Carnegie Mellon University study, however, the three technologies can be combined to learn peoples' identities and other personal information about them, starting with just a photograph of their face. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/computer-technologies-reveal-identities/19422/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/facial-recognition-for-wild-apes/19420/">New facial recognition software designed for study of wild apes</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/ben-coxworth/" rel="author">Ben Coxworth</a></p> <p><em>13:08 August 3, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/facial-recognition-for-wild-apes/19420/#comments">1 Comment</a> </p> <p></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/facial-recognition-for-wild-apes/19420/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/saisbeco.jpg" title="The SAISBECO project is developing facial recognition software, for the study of wild apes..." alt="The SAISBECO project is developing facial recognition software, for the study of wild apes..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>When studying wild animals such as gorillas and chimpanzees, it's not uncommon to use photo or video traps - unmanned cameras that are triggered to capture images when creatures pass in front of them. Scientists can then retrieve the cameras and review the footage, to get an estimate of the numbers of a certain species within a given area, and to see what those animals have been up to. One of the problems with this approach, however, is that it's often hard to tell one animal from another - are you looking at several shots of several different apes, or is it the same individual every time? German scientists are developing wild primate-devoted facial recognition software, in order to answer such questions. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/facial-recognition-for-wild-apes/19420/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/heat-regulating-building-material/19413/">New heat-regulating building material could cut building heating and cooling costs</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/darren-quick/" rel="author">Darren Quick</a></p> <p><em>22:44 August 2, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/heat-regulating-building-material/19413/#comments">3 Comments</a> </p> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/image_modernist.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/heat-regulating-building-material/19413/picture/139073/">2 Pictures</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/heat-regulating-building-material/19413/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/heat-regulating-material.jpg" title="A new heat-regulating material could be used in buildings to cut heating and cooling costs" alt="A new heat-regulating material could be used in buildings to cut heating and cooling costs"/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>Researchers at the Ningpo, China campus of the University of Nottingham (UNNC) have created a new heat-regulating material that could be used to cut the heating and cooling costs of buildings. The non-deformed storage phase change material (PCM) can be fixed so that it starts absorbing any excess heat above a pre-determined temperature and releasing stored heat when the ambient temperature drops below the set point. The researchers say the material can be manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes, even small enough so that it can be sprayed as a microscopic film to surfaces in existing buildings. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/heat-regulating-building-material/19413/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/brain-cap/19391/">I think, therefore I move - 'brain cap' turns thought into motion</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/darren-quick/" rel="author">Darren Quick</a></p> <p><em>02:20 August 1, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/brain-cap/19391/#comments">2 Comments</a> </p> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/image_modernist.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/brain-cap/19391/picture/138933/">3 Pictures</a></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/brain-cap/19391/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/brain-cap.jpg" title="Harsha Agashe, a Ph.D. student in Contreras-Vidal's lab at UMD wears the Brain Cap, a non-..." alt="Harsha Agashe, a Ph.D. student in Contreras-Vidal's lab at UMD wears the Brain Cap, a non-..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) continue to advance the development of their “brain cap” technology that allows users to turn their thoughts into motion. The team has already had success in using EEG brain signals captured from the cap’s 64 electrodes attached to users’ scalps to <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/maryland-brain-computer-interface-research/14425/" target="_blank">reconstruct 3D hand movements</a> and to control a computer cursor with their thoughts, and now the team has successfully reconstructed the complex 3D-movements of the ankle, knee and hip joints during treadmill walking. The aim is to provide a non-invasive technology that can return motor function to victims of paralysis, injury or stroke. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/brain-cap/19391/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="summary_item "> <div class="summary_details"> <div class="sd_top"> </div> <div class="clear_both"> <h2><a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-diodes-for-one-way-sound/19359/">Acoustic diode allows sound waves to only travel in one direction</a></h2> <div class="summary_details_left"> <p>By <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/author/ben-coxworth/" rel="author">Ben Coxworth</a></p> <p><em>15:31 July 27, 2011</em></p> </div> <div class="summary_details_right"> <p><img src="/web/20110814151103im_/http://www.gizmag.com/images/icons/splashyIcons/comments.png" alt=""/> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-diodes-for-one-way-sound/19359/#comments">3 Comments</a> </p> <p></p> </div> </div> </div> <center><a class="noback" href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-diodes-for-one-way-sound/19359/"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103im_/http://images.gizmag.com/hero/acousticdiode.jpg" title="A schematic of an acoustic diode, showing how the elastic spheres are able to convert the ..." alt="A schematic of an acoustic diode, showing how the elastic spheres are able to convert the ..."/></a></center> <div class="summary"> <p>When it comes to the sound-proofing of buildings, most people likely think of using materials that simply absorb the sound waves in a noisy room, so they can't proceed into a neighboring quiet room. Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), however, are taking a different approach. They have created something known as an acoustic diode, that only allows sound traveling through it to go in one direction. If incorporated into building materials, such diodes would let sound travel from the quiet room to the noisy one, but would simply block noise transmission in the opposite direction. <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/acoustic-diodes-for-one-way-sound/19359/">Read More</a> </p> </div> </div> <center class="snap_noshots"> <div class="next_prev"><strong> <span>1</span> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/researchwatch/2/">2</a> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/researchwatch/3/">3</a> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/researchwatch/4/">4</a> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/researchwatch/5/">5</a> <a href="/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/researchwatch/2/">Next </a> » </strong></div> </center> <div class="dotsontop">  <div id="search_form_bottom"> <form action="https://web.archive.org/web/20110814151103/http://www.gizmag.com/search/" id="cse-search-box-bottom"> <span class="title">Looking for something? 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